Obradovich: Joni Ernst needs big ideas, not a bigger gun, to win

Aug. 21, 2013

Joni Ernst

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Republican Joni Ernst, who is running for U.S. Senate, likes to say that she’s not only a Second Amendment supporter, but she carries a gun.

“I have a conceal-carry permit, and I actually do carry. A lot of people have conceal-carry permits, but they don’t necessarily carry. I do carry. And I am Army-qualified on the 9-millimeter and the M-16. So the Second Amendment is not just words on a piece of paper,” she said Tuesday at a Republican breakfast meeting in Des Moines.

Ernst is a lieutenant colonel and battalion commander in the Iowa Army National Guard and served a deployment in Kuwait. Asked if she was carrying at that moment on Tuesday, she said she was. “I have my black purse with me,” she said, adding she is armed about 90 percent of the time.

She carries a 9-millimeter handgun and a .380-caliber. “One at a time,” she said with a laugh. “It’s something I am comfortable with. I’ve grown up with weapons and I’ve served in the military. I’m comfortable with that. But it is a sense of security, too,” she said.

During a half-hour speech and question-and-answer session, she also pointed out that she’s probably the only Senate candidate who has castrated hogs. She grew up operating heavy earth-moving equipment. In other words, gentlemen, she’s tougher than you.

Ernst is the only woman in the GOP primary race for the U.S. Senate seat left open by Sen. Tom Harkin’s retirement in 2014. Based on her comments, one might imagine she’s trying a little too hard to be just one of the guys. That’s not the impression she leaves, however. She’s unpretentious and good-humored enough to sound capable and confident, not insecure or overreaching.

She’s positioning herself on the right on social issues, saying she believes life begins at conception and that marriage is between one man and one woman. I’m told that has disappointed some business-oriented Republicans who hoped she would avoid taking far-right social positions that could hinder her in the general election, especially with female voters. But in this primary field, I doubt she could be successful without a strong identity as a social conservative.

In an interview, she emphasized her status as a mother, saying she wanted to raise her daughter and grandchildren with the same values she was taught.

“That sets me apart from the other gentlemen in the race: I am a mother, I am a grandmother,” she said. Castrating hogs, packing heat and giving birth — guys, she’s definitely tougher than you.

None of those things is necessarily a qualification for the U.S. Senate, however. Ernst, in her stump speech, is working more at introducing herself at this stage than taking specific positions on many issues.

She said she had the “intestinal fortitude” to take a hard look at the budget. When asked for specifics, she said Tuesday she wanted to eliminate the Department of Education. That’s a political bumper sticker that’s not likely to happen, however.

When asked whether she’d hazard a government shutdown in order to defund Obamacare, she spoke about the political risks for Republicans if they can’t hold together in the Senate. “If they can’t achieve that, then the risk to all Republicans becomes a pretty big deal, because 1995, Republicans were blamed for the government shutdown,” she said.

I, for one, would rather she had said it was irresponsible to shut down the government to make another futile political protest about legislation that was duly passed by Congress and signed into law. If repealing Obamacare is the goal, the right way to do it is to elect enough members of Congress to vote for it.

Ernst is a top-tier candidate with a real shot at winning the nomination. She’s intelligent, high-achieving and a leader. She has at least the tacit backing of Gov. Terry Branstad.

As the campaign goes on, however, I hope she will set herself apart from the other candidates with bigger ideas, not just a bigger gun.